Transcriptional analysis of the conserved ftsZ gene cluster in Mycoplasma genitalium and Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

ABSTRACT: Several experimental approaches were used to construct a detailed transcriptional profile of the phylogenetically conserved ftsZ cell division gene cluster in both Mycoplasma genitalium and its closest relative, Mycoplasma pneumoniae. We determined initiation and termination points for the cluster, as well as an absolute steady-state RNA level for each gene. Transcription of this cluster in both these organisms was shown to be highly strand specific. While the four genes in this cluster are cotranscribed, their transcription unit also includes two genes of close proximity yet disparate function. A transcription initiation point immediately upstream of these two genes was detected in M. genitalium but not M. pneumoniae. In M. pneumoniae, transcription of the six genes terminates at a poly(U

SUBMITTER: Benders GA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1151755 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature